Page 77 of Sinister Hearts
Rocky walked over to me, concerned. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Keep the Reapers out, I want to enjoy this,” I replied, my stance clear.
Rocky gave me a knowing smirk back. “You got it.” She began binding the doors and sealed them with Latin words and a small vial of black salt she took out from a small brown pouch she had hanging from her hips..
I walked past the threshold into a gigantic hidden room. The walls were covered, full of scriptures and images of demons, but I was distracted by a shuffle in the dark corner.
“I know you’re here, Vadon. What’s wrong? You don’t want me anymore?” Sinister laughs came from my throat. “You sent Avi to kidnap our daughter and she took my mother’s life in the process. And now, I’m going to kill you!”
My screams shattered all the demonic statues aligned against the shrine, where pictures of the women they killed all for power and wealth plagued my vision. Tears stung my eyes. I could hear and feel their tortured pain, crying out in agony. Their pain was too much to carry. Their souls held in the in between, not able to rest peacefully.
“She wasn’t supposed to kill her. It was a mistake. It was supposed to be you!” Vadon cried out from behind the thick longcurtain, hidden by furniture. I moved the dresser with a flick of my wrist.
“Wrong witch!” I lifted Vadon in the air, and my eyes shifted back to white. I felt the magic and hate spewing, crawling like spiders underneath my fuming skin, the power driving me mad. The cries of all the victims were deafening, drowning any light out. It left me in total, complete darkness with no way out. The surge of power was so strong, it took control over my psyche.
“It’s all about balance.” Ma’s words rang through my mental harbor, my anger flooding the gates of my long anticipated vengeance. Visions of Vadon’s words—like daggers, over the years crossed my mind—memories of the shoves, and the violent anger that terrorized me, the memories of him throwing my frail body by Birdie’s bassinet haunted me, retreating me into a dark descent as I let it surround me.
We walked into the abandoned building, silent as night, ready to feast. Our shadows were famished, and the scent of tainted souls filled all my senses. Our Reapers screeched with the thrill of the hunt, the dark night fueling my insides. Our long black cloaks camouflaged into our shadows. Creed and Rykerwhipped out their Odin-blessed pistols as the search for prey began.
“I’m headed for high ground, for cover.” Creed’s tactical training was now activated.
Something tugged at my murky gut. Doing my best to continue the hunt, I commanded, “I go left, you right. We will cover more ground that way.” My brothers took their positions.
“Pull on the bond if you need me, brothers,” Creed said, making his location known to us.
“Let’s do this,” Ryker said, locked into his position.
A security guard soon made his presence known in the hallway. “Who’s there?” the man called out, casting his flashlight upon the darkness. I could taste the fear from his pores. It was like a reward. The best part is, humans couldn’t see in the dark, but Grims could.
“Deeeeaaaaaathhhhh!” my Reaper screeched, transcending into my shadows, right behind him, taking him by complete surprise. “Stare into Death’s eyes.” My skull’s dark, hollow eyes siphoned his doomed soul. My shadows then slithered upon his rigid body. I watched the pathetic life leave his eyes and then his body. His body shriveled and turned to ashy bones, like a moth’s molt.
A sudden gun shot rang from Ryker’s direction. I saw him dodge the bullet tactfully, his Reaper starved with hunger. He transformed into his form before the other security guard came and swiftly broke his arm. The bone stuck out from his flesh, jagged and bloody, as the man began screaming out.
“Your soul is miiiinnneeee!” Ryker’s Reaper tongue licked the wound in a hungered fever.
“Don’t play with your food, brethren,” I mocked.
Ryker siphoned the man’s soul as it meshed into his, leaving him wanting more. Our Reapers bellowed at the thrill, our shadows lingering from their form like black smoke flames.
Bang! The shot rang right by my ear. I turned back to see a man, another useless security guard, laying lifeless. Creed waved at me from a hidden top deck.
“Good shot.” I sent my compliments down to the Grim Bond.
“Got you. Two o’clock.” Creed pulled the trigger, taking another shot, missing the human racing toward me. The “human” turned into a skinwalker, a gods damn mimic right before my deathly hollow eyes. The skinwalker knocked me down and we wrestled on the cement floor. I fucking hated skinwalkers! Damn roaches!
Ryker and Creed took their own shots at their nemeses. We all battled into the night, ferocious and with no mercy.
The skinwalker was tall, slimy, and full of sluggish skin. Its arms and legs were unnaturally long. My razor sharp Reaper teeth gnawed their way into its torn limb as it began crying out in an agonizing pain. It’s vile blood tainted my long Reaper tongue. I pinned the skinwalker to the ground, making sure to make a clean cut off its head. Reapers couldn’t doom something already purely wicked from birth. In order to kill these beasts, their heads had to be cleaned right off their shoulders, leaving them brainless and mindless. The skinwalker snapped and snarled at my face. I bashed my skull into his head and it flew back, disoriented from the blow. Creed then made a clean shot right through its right leg. It fell right onto its wounded leg. The creature visibly shifted into a naked woman. The woman crouched, shaking in uncontrollable pain, holding herself. Her curly hair covered her face.What the fuck. All three of us circled the wounded woman, weeping, wounded, and out of fight.
“I’m so sorry, Creed,” the woman muttered. Creed came out from the shadows, striding closer.
“Avi?!” Creed moved the brunette’s hair from her face.
We were all too stunned to speak, standing back in crippling shock. Creed bent down and picked Avi’s body up as his Reaperscreeched in agony. A wail I haven’t heard from my brother since our mother succumbed to her illness. “No!” Creed wailed. “Why? Why!” Creed cradled her naked, bloody, and wounded body.
“I didn’t mean to kill her. I was just supposed to trick Birdie into coming with me. They said they wouldn’t hurt her, they promised. I’m so sorry.” Avi spit up thick, black blood, her breath becoming more hollow.
“How could you, Avi? How could you do this to my family?” Creed’s Reaper grieved, knowing what must be done.
